When a storm comes through town, an eccentric man is trapped in his bed by a neighbor's tree which fell on him. Rescuers discover the man is a hoarder, and when authorities contact his next of kin to come to town, she gets help from Betsy and the stitching group at Crewel World to help sort through things. Valuable coins and jewelry and even a mailbag with 1996 mail turn up as they go through things. When murdered in his hospital bed, cousin Val becomes the chief suspect because she had the most to gain. Betsy is certain she didn't do it, but can she prove it. It was a pretty obvious solution, but I still enjoy visits with Betsy and friends. Although this one features stitching, it is not quite as prominent as some of the earlier installments. I listened to the audiobook read by Susan Boyle who did a great job. ( )

I felt too much time was spent on other people's points of view. The star of this series is Betsey, and I prefer to see the story unfold from her eyes. Much of this book is from Valentina's point of view, a woman we have never met until now. And I didn't really care what she thought, because she will be gone by the next book.

The mystery was ok, but there was too much foreshadowing early on that made the killer not much of a surprise. And there was hardly any crafting in this one. It felt like it was thrown in almost as an afterthought. So not my favorite in the series, but I will probably continue to read the series anyway. ( )

This eighteenth installment of the Needlecraft Mystery series starts out with a bang! No, really. It starts with a raging storm, and a tree falling on someone’s home. And that’s just the beginning of the excitement.

Ms. Ferris has managed yet again to add a fresh take on a long running series. I don’t know how she does it, but the author always finds something new to get into for her protagonist, Betsy Devonshire and Betsy’s Crewel World Monday Bunch.

As with her past books, DARNED IF YOU DO is very descriptive, ensuring that you “see” things as they happen while you’re reading. You can’t help but visualize the scenes.

The mystery was filled with plenty of twists and turns, keeping me guessing. And once again, as with the book before this one, book seventeen in this series, THE DROWNING SPOOL, I had no idea who the killer was until Ms. Ferris spelled it out for me.

The needlecraft project in this installment is for a crochet pattern for Classic Lace. You do not have to know any sort of needlework to read this book, but it sure makes you wish you did. ( )